Sunday Journal: Power Outage

We live in an old neighborhood. We were given advance notice that our neighborhood would experience a 12 hour power outage (6 am to 6 pm) on an upcoming Sunday so some of the very old electrical wiring could be replaced.

So, how did our day go?

Well, Cory got up early so he could shower while the hot water heater was still operating, then used duct tape to seal the fridge and freezer closed for the day.

Then I woke up, and found to my dismay that I had failed to plug in my phone or tablet on Saturday night. Oh well. At least my shower was warm.

I had made a double batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins the night before, which children were helping themselves to by the time I came downstairs. Then Cory set-up the camp stove on the porch and made pancakes, which we topped with peanut butter and a fresh jar of jam from the pantry.

Once Q woke up, we had a problem. Apparently he had a nosebleed during the night. He cleaned up just fine, but we couldn't run the sheet through the washing machine during a power outage. I soaked it in the bathroom sink, then squeezed it out and tossed it in the tub to wait for further care.

After Cory left for his morning meetings, we got out a preschool board game (Richard Scarry's Busytown Eye Found It! and tried to teach Q how to play. 

It took a few turns before he understood that the magnifying glasses were for circling found objects, not looking through.

We had just cleaned up that game when I turned around and saw that T had brought up Apples to Apples, Jr, so we played that game, too.

We had just enough time to put on shoes, eat a snack, and make it to church early enough for K to assist with sacrament preparations when Q emptied the entire box of Apples to Apples cards on the floor. Somehow I thought we could clean that up and still make it in time. By the time we had cleaned up all the cards, sliced apples and got to church, we were walking in as the opening song played.

Our dinner plan was spaghetti, which we knew we could boil on the camp stove or the stovetop once we got home from church. Thankfully the power was back on by the time we got home (almost 5) because I had just found out we were also responsible for providing treats for the youth fireside that started at 6, and I didn't want to find out whether it was possible to make and chill no-bake cookies on a camp stove and at room temperature.

All in all, it still felt like Sunday, but helped us to think a little more outside our usual habits.